Rosha Paika Pitha.
This special delicacy is offered during the Sandhya Dhupa (evening aarati) ceremony. This delicacy is a symbol of devotion, reciprocation and harmoniuos relationship between dedicated servitors. After the offering, the pitha is distributed among the temple servitors as their rightful share. In the Odia language, “Rosha” means kitchen and “Paika” refers to the group of kitchen servitors. This pitha is named in their honor, as they are the final recipients, as a gesture of gratitude from the Lord.
Made from ground urad dal, ginger, asafoetida, rock salt, and coconut pieces, these golden cakes are deep-fried in ghee by the Pitha Suara Sevaks
Preparation Time - 20 minutes
Soaking time - 4 hours
Cooking time - 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup split black gram with skin (urad dal)
¼ cup rice flour
1 inch ginger, grated
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon asafoetida, soaked in 1 tablespoon water
¾ cup ghee
Method
Soak one cup of split urad dal with skin for 4 hours. Rinse it well, gently rubbing to remove most of the black skins. It’s okay if some skins remain.
Transfer the dal to a mixer grinder and grind it into a thick paste, adding water gradually—up to about ½ cup as needed.The batter should be dense and slightly coarse in texture.
Transfer the batter into a bowl. For this delicacy, the batter need not be stored for fermentation.
Add ¼ cup rice flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 inch of grated ginger, and the previously soaked asafoetida water. Mix everything thoroughly, ensuring there are no lumps and all the ingredients are well combined.
Switch on the stove and on a deep pan add ¼ cup of ghee. Let it heat nicely.
Pour the batter into the pan. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
Open the lid—the top layer will still be slightly uncooked. Carefully flip it over.
Using a knife, make a few holes on the top of the pitha. Gently pour the remaining ghee into these holes. This helps the thick pitha cook evenly on low heat.
Cover again and cook for another 10–15 minutes on low heat. Then open the lid and flip the pitha once more. By now, both sides should be cooked. Cover again and cook for an additional 2–3 minutes on low heat.
Turn off the heat and transfer the pitha to a plate. Let it cool to room temperature. The Suara Pitha is now ready to be offered to Lord Jagannath.